{In this blog post I will tackle an often oversimplified subject:
opposite-colour bishop endgames. The extent of most people's knowledge about
such positions are that they have a more drawish tendency than other types of
endgames, remembering some position where the defending side is down two pawns
but holds a draw by blockading both pawns on the colour complex of their
bishop. Certainly, opposite-bishop endgames are more strategic in nature than
any other endgame, but with more pieces on the board they can offer very good
winning chances for the stronger side! Let's start with an example where
having the superior bishop proved to be a very serious advantage!} 1. d4 Nf6 2.
c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. dxe5 {The Exchange Variation
doesn't have to be played with a draw in mind but that's how White interpreted
it in this game, and if you play the King's Indian as Black you'll find it
quite useful to notice how severely this plan backfires!} dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9.
Bg5 (9. Nxe5 Nxe4 10. Nxe4 (10. Nxf7 $2 Bxc3+) 10... Bxe5 {is a tactic every
King's Indian player should know - in this way Black achieves a very
comfortable position as the KID bishop is no longer inhibited by an e5-pawn.})
9... Nbd7 (9... Re8 {is the modern main line.}) 10. Nd5 $6 c6 11. Ne7+ Kf8 12.
Nxc8 Rdxc8 {If we look at the pawn structure (a very good way to figure out
what's going on!), we'll notice that White has a hole in his ranks - the
d4-square can't be defended by a White pawn. On the other hand, the White
knight wasn't able to stay perched on d5 because of the ...c6 response. If we
extend our investigation to the minor pieces, we'll notice that White only has
a bishop and knight that can control d4, whereas all three Black minor pieces
can control d4. That means that White is likely to lose the battle for this
square, and once we get a knight to d4 (say) we will control the game by
clogging up the open file for White's rooks. In conclusion, Black is already
somewhat better, and White should not have exchanged his knight for the
c8-bishop.} 13. Nd2 Nc5 14. f3 Ke8 15. Be3 ({Black doesn't fear} 15. b4 $6 Ne6
16. Be3 a5 $1 {when White is unable to support his queenside pawn mass with a3,
and after} 17. b5 {there's also an outpost on c5 that Black can exploit with}
Bf8 {, intending the favourable exchange of dark-squared bishops with ...Bc5
(our dream scenario is a knight on d4 dominating the tall pawn on e2).}) 15...
Bf8 16. Bxc5 Bxc5 {Opposite-coloured bishops + no queens doesn't always = a
draw! Black is already significantly better and it's all in the bishops - the
c5-bishop is a monster eyeballing the weak squares in White's position, while
the e2-bishop is very passive and can do little more than defend the White
pawns. This isn't yet a decisive advantage, but if Black can create several
pawn weaknesses in White's camp, White will struggle to defend them all. But
there is no need to rush - first we should improve the position of all our
pieces (except maybe the bishop on c5 which is already in seventh heaven).} 17.
Nb3 Bb4+ 18. Kd1 a5 $1 {A very good move - the knight might look silly on b3
but if White can get in c5 and Bc4, his bishop will be a lot more active!} 19.
a3 (19. c5 Rd8+ 20. Kc2 a4 {was the point.}) 19... Be7 20. a4 {It's very ugly
to fix another pawn on a light square, but otherwise} (20. Kc2 a4 21. Nc1 Bc5 {
would also be quite unpleasant. We'll see just how bad this structure is for
White in the next game, but for now notice that all White's queenside pawns
are fixed as playing} 22. b4 $2 axb3+ 23. Kxb3 {leaves the a3-pawn very
vulnerable on the half-open file.}) 20... Nd7 {The knight wasn't doing much on
f6 so it's time to reroute it.} 21. Kc2 Nf8 22. Rac1 (22. c5 $5 {is a pawn
sacrifice, but often in opposite-coloured bishop positions, the mobility of
the bishop (and the potential to blockade any passed pawns) outweighs the
material balance. After} Ne6 23. Bc4 Nxc5 24. Nxc5 Bxc5 25. Rad1 {Black is
certainly the one with all the chances, but winning will not be so easy as
it's hard to turn Black's queenside majority into a passed pawn that won't
just be blockaded. Although with the rooks on the board Black can torture
White for the next 100 moves at least.}) 22... Ne6 {The knight is simply
gorgeous on e6 - it can visit the f4, d4 or c5 squares at the right moment.}
23. Kb1 Bc5 24. g3 {The knight is pretty miserable on b3, but there's no way
White will acquiesce to} (24. Nxc5 Nxc5 25. Bd1 Rd8 {when the knight
completely dominates the bishop! It's as though Black is up half a piece as
the knight can quickly access many more squares than the bishop in such a
fixed pawn structure. The winning plan for Black will be to penetrate the open
file with his rooks (say to d2) and then bring the king in to finish the job.})
24... Ra6 $1 {A really clever manoeuvre to b6 to make it harder for the knight
to stay on b3. Also the rook can come to b4 to attack White's pawns.} 25. Bf1 (
25. f4 $1 {was White's last chance to free himself - as I said, it's often
worth jettisoning a pawn to get the bishop out and swap some pawns in such
passive opposite-colour bishop positions.} exf4 (25... Rb6 $1 26. Rc3 Bd4 27.
Nxd4 exd4 {is the right way to keep control - actually White struggles to
defend his pawns against ...Rb4/...Nc5 after e.g.} 28. Rd3 Rd8 29. Rhd1 Rb4 30.
f5 Nc5 31. Rxd4 Rxd4 32. Rxd4 Nxa4 33. Rd2 Nc3+ 34. Kc2 Nxe2 35. Rxe2 Rxc4+ 36.
Kd3 Rb4 {and the extra pawn should be decisive here.}) 26. gxf4 Be3 27. c5 Raa8
28. Rcf1 Nxc5 29. Nxc5 Bxc5 30. h4 {and the liberation of White's pieces give
him real drawing chances.}) 25... Rb6 26. Kc2 (26. Ka2 Rb4 {is even worse.})
26... Rb4 27. Bh3 Rxc4+ 28. Kb1 Rxc1+ 29. Rxc1 Bb4 {So Black won a pawn, but
as is often the case, White has some temporary counterplay and at least got
his bishop into the game.} 30. Nc5 {From here the game loses its relevance to
our theme as we transition into a rook ending.} Bxc5 $2 {Black assumes the
threat to take on b7 is real, but it isn't:} (30... Ke7 $1 31. Bxe6 fxe6 32.
Nxb7 c5 {and the knight is ensnared, and soon captured after} 33. Rd1 Rb8 34.
Nd6 Rd8 {.}) 31. Bxe6 fxe6 32. Rxc5 b6 33. Rxe5 Kf7 {The cause of White's
defeat from here is entirely due to the fact that he was unable to free his
rook (notice the nice tactic on move 43 exploiting this).} 34. Rg5 {So if
White freed his rook ASAP with} (34. f4 Kf6 35. g4 {followed by g5 and f5, he
would make a draw without much difficulty. If} h6 36. h4 {and then g5 will
exchange some pawns to boot.}) 34... Rd8 35. Kc2 Rd4 36. b3 Kf6 37. h4 e5 38.
Rg4 b5 39. axb5 cxb5 40. Kc3 a4 41. bxa4 bxa4 42. f4 Rxe4 43. Kd3 $2 Kg7 $1 44.
h5 a3 45. Kxe4 a2 46. hxg6 hxg6 47. Rg5 a1=Q 48. Rxe5 Qc3 49. Rg5 Kf6 50. Kd5
Qd3+ 51. Kc5 Kf7 52. Kc6 Qd4 53. Kb5 Qc3 54. Kb6 Qc4 55. Kb7 Qe6 56. Kc7 Kf6
57. Kb7 Qd6 58. Kc8 Qc6+ 59. Kd8 Qb7 60. Re5 Qb6+ 61. Kc8 Kf7 0-1 [/pgn]

{Our next game is an expansion on the same theme in the basic Exchange KID
structure.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. dxe5
dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bg5 Nbd7 (9... Re8) (9... c6) 10. Rd1 Rf8 11. Nd5 c6 12.
Ne7+ Kh8 13. Nxc8 Raxc8 14. Bxf6 $2 {Once again the exchange robs White's
position of all its dynamic potential, and} (14. Nd2 {with ideas of Be3, f3,
c5 and Nc4 should be preferred. Black is certainly still comfortable but White
is usually worse if he's unable to generate pawn play on the queenside or else
firm a knight into d6.}) 14... Nxf6 15. Bd3 (15. Nxe5 Nxe4 16. f4 f6 17. Nd3 f5
{is obviously in Black's favour - having the much better minor pieces is a big
help in an open position too.}) 15... a5 {Black's general plan is very similar
to the previous game. From your study of this post you can understand why
Philidor once said that 'pawns are the soul of chess' - because the pawn
structure dictates where your pieces belong.} 16. Bc2 Rfe8 17. Ke2 Bf8 {The
bishop was doing very little on g7 so we should give it some air!} 18. a3 Bc5
19. h3 Ra8 20. Rd2 a4 {This structure is already quite bad for White because
the queenside pawns are split - White will have to defend his b2-pawn and
c4-pawn with pieces should they be attacked. Also note how worthless White's
occupation of the open d-file is - that's because all the entry points (d8, d7,
d6, d5) are controlled by Black's pieces. Later on, if Black blockaded the
d4-square with a piece, he would have the choice of when to re-open the file.}
21. Rb1 Kg7 22. Rbd1 (22. b4 axb3 23. Rxb3 Re7 {is hardly prudent as the
a3-pawn is very hard to defend.}) 22... Kf8 23. Kf1 {White has to resort to
waiting moves while Black can strengthen his position as steadily as he
pleases.} h6 24. Ke2 Bb6 25. Rd6 Kg7 26. Kf1 (26. Ke1 {is given in the
original game score but that loses to} Bc7 27. R6d2 Ba5 {.}) 26... Bc7 27. R6d2
Kf8 28. Ke2 Ke7 29. Kf1 Ra5 30. Re2 {It is not so easy for Black to improve
his pieces now as we have to defend ourselves against Red2 and Rd7. That is
why Black exchanged a pair of rooks.} Rd8 $1 31. Rxd8 Bxd8 32. Ke1 Nd7 {We're
already aware of the value of the knight on e6.} 33. Kd1 Nf8 34. Bb1 Ne6 35. g3
{This might seem a pretty innocent pawn move, and for now it is, but later on
we'll see how Black is able to create a White weakness on the kingside.} Bb6
36. Ba2 Bd4 (36... Nd4 37. Nxd4 Bxd4 {isn't as accurate an exchange.}) 37. Ne1
{And of course not} (37. Nxd4 Nxd4 {.}) ({However, White should have held his
ground with} 37. Rd2 {and moving back and forth, and then Black will need to
find some other plan to make progress as} Ra6 $2 {now runs into} 38. c5 $1 {.})
37... Nc5 {If the knight had still been on f3, White could have at least
traded off the hole on d4 with Nxd4.} 38. Kc2 (38. Nf3 {threatens to trade on
d4, but} Ra8 $1 39. Nxd4 Rd8 40. Rd2 exd4 {retains Black's clear superiority.
Black will next bring his king up and open kingside files, as the White bishop
is stuck on the queenside and can't challenge Black on the other side of the
board.}) 38... Ra6 39. f3 Rb6 40. Kc1 h5 $1 {The key final part of the winning
plan is to create a weak White pawn on the kingside and open up a route for
the king to penetrate White's position. After that the win will be quite easy.}
41. Rg2 (41. g4 h4 42. Kb1 Ne6 {intending ...Ng5 or ...Nf4 is pretty
disastrous for White.} (42... Kf6 43. Ng2 Kg5 {first is even simpler.})) 41...
Kf6 42. Re2 Kg7 43. Rg2 Kh6 44. h4 {Played to avoid} (44. Kb1 h4 45. gxh4 Kh5 {
as here White is unable to defend both h4 and b2 (as these weaknesses are too
far away). After} 46. Rh2 Kxh4 {Black's king reaches g3 and then it is easy to
win.}) 44... Kg7 {Now the g3 and h4 pawns would be goners if the rooks were
exchanged, but that's not so easy to achieve so Black creates a passer instead.
} 45. Re2 f5 46. exf5 (46. Kb1 Kf6 47. Kc1 fxe4 48. fxe4 Ke7 {would create
another weakness in the e4-pawn, and White is now in zugzwang in fact, as even}
49. Kb1 {fails to} Nxe4 $1 {(although ...Ra6-a8-f8 would also do the job)} 50.
Rxe4 Rxb2+ 51. Ka1 Re2+) 46... gxf5 47. Rg2 Kf6 48. Re2 e4 49. fxe4 fxe4 {The
domination of White's bishop is very funny.} 50. Bb1 Rb3 $1 {Black calculates
accurately to top off a well-played game.} 51. Rg2 (51. Bxe4 Rxb2 {is winning
for Black:} (51... Bxb2+ 52. Kc2 Bxa3 {practically speaking is much simpler,
but I find the computer's line aesthetically very appealing.}) 52. Bf3 (52.
Rxb2 Bxb2+ 53. Kxb2 Nxe4) 52... Nb3+ 53. Kd1 Rb1+ 54. Kc2 Rc1+ 55. Kd3 Rc3+ 56.
Ke4 Bc5 57. Bxh5 Nc1 58. Rc2 Re3+) 51... Ke5 52. g4 {This counterplay is
easily kept in toe.} hxg4 53. h5 Kf4 54. h6 Rh3 55. Rd2 Nb3+ 0-1 [/pgn]